The Human Factor
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3 Months Free
The Human Factor
Buy Now for $22.13
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Narrated by:
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Tim Pigott-Smith
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By:
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Graham Greene
Brought to you by Penguin.
A leak is traced to a small sub-section of the secret service, sparking off the inevitable security checks, tensions and suspicions. The sort of atmosphere, perhaps, where mistakes could be made? For Maurice Castle, it is the end of the line anyway, and time for him to retire to live peacefully with his wife and child. But no-one escapes so easily from the lonely, isolated, neurotic world of the SIS.
‘Graham Greene's beautiful and disturbing novel is filled with tenderness, humour, excitement and doubt’ The Times
© Graham Greene 1978 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Great book
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As a devoted admirer of Le Carré and Deighton, with their beguiling beige London intelligence offices and bureaucratic intrigues, I felt immediately at home in Graham Greene's world of tired taupe and well-worn moral ambiguity.
While I may not be acquainted with the secret-service corridors of Zaire, Maurice Castle's memories of Apartheid South Africa felt all too recognisable. This is not a novel where you'll be raising a glass to a slick Guy Ritchie-style band of wisecracking spies. More likely, you'll be steadily refilling that glass as an anaesthetic against the relentless banality of unrestricted "secret service" life.
Don't come expecting explosive set pieces, ticking bombs, or gut-punch plot twists. Greene offers something more unsettling: not a shock to the nervous system, but an almost defibrillating jolt to the moral conscience.
As in Greene's Our Man in Havana, this is a spy who operates outside the traditional codes of honour. Castle serves no flag with unquestioning devotion. Instead, he honours the only border Greene seems to regard as truly sacred—that of the human heart. Castle's loyalties echo Shakespeare's The Tempest:
"I, beyond all limit of what else i' th' world, do love, prize, honour you."
So, dear reader, there are no "ha-ha, bang-bang" moments here. Instead, expect deep dives into conscience, crises of faith, and battles fought not with weapons but with ideology. The real suspense lies in watching decent people navigate impossible moral choices.
By the final page, you'll understand why I suggested keeping the drinks cabinet stocked.
Make mine also a J&B. No soda.
Rating: 4.7 for Graham's story and a 5.0 for Tim's superb voice.
You'll need a fully stocked bar before reading
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